Lug box



1959 w. B. LAYTON, JR, ETAL 2,873,375

LUG BOX 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 23, 1956 \W n W 3 Nw h m M-Llhw m wmwm w U N r 4 W R M M m MAT A M United States Patent LUG BOX William B.Layton, Jr., and Delmar S. Miller, San Anselmo, and Robert W. Smith, SanRafael, Calif assignors to Dnmont Corporation, San Rafael, Califl, acorporation of California Application April 23, 1956, Serial No. 580,101

4 Claims. (Cl. 220-4) This invention generally relates to theconstruction of open top containers, and is more particularly directedtowards the construction of lug boxes which are used in thetransportation of fruits, vegetables and the like from the fields to thecanneries or other processing or packaging plants.

So-called lug boxes, adapted for the above mentioned use, haveheretofore presented numerous problems to persons using the same. By wayof example, such boxes are conventionally constructed out of wood withthe fiat bottom and side walls nailed together to provide a unitary opentop receptacle into which produce or the like is loaded in the fields,then carted to the cannery, etc., whereat the contents of the box aredumped and subsequently processed. As the boxes are subjected to extremeloads and shocks such as by being dropped from a truck to the ground,with the wood construction described, many boxes would not even last acomplete season, thereby requiring either continual replacement and/orrepair. It might be explained that increasing the strength of the box bygreater wall'thickness is not an adequate solution, as this renders thetare weight of the box excessive and unsatisfactory for handling. Afurther disadvantage stemming from the use of conventional boxes istheir inability to be vertically stacked so as to resist relativedisplacement. Other shortcomings are well known to persons having aknowledge of this art.

It is. therefore an object of the present invention to provide a lug boxwhich possesses a relatively thinwall thickness, but which is extremelystrong and capable of absorbing the impact and other loads impartedthereto without danger of breakage.

Another object of this invention is to. provide a box of hte characterdescribed which may be economically molded from a plastic material orthe like, and which is constructed so as to be sufliciently rigid tosatisfy normal container requirements, but which is flexible in certainportions thereof whereby impacts or shocks may be readily dissipatedwithout cracking or-otherwise injuring the box. Y

A further object of our invention is to provide a box of the above type.in which a plurality of separately formed parts are interconnected in anovel manner so as to materially increase thestrength of the unitedstructure.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a box as abovedescribed in which means are provided permitting vertical staeking of aplurality of boxes while effectively locking adjacent boxes in the stackagainst all but deliberate displacement.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a p, 2,873,875Patented Feb. 17, 1959 "ice lug box. including improved means forfacilitating removal'of the box contents upon insertion or tipping ofthe box, and in which suitable provision is made for drainage of waterwhich might otherwise collect in the box.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the followingdescription of the preferred form of the invention which is illustratedin the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. It isto be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by thesaid drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of theinvention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawings:

Figure 1 is an end elevational view of the lug box of the presentinvention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the box.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the box.

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of two pieces comprisingone-half of a finished box.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional side elevational view taken substantiallyin the plane indicated by line 5-5 of Figure 3, but illustrating a pairof boxes in stacked relationship.

Figure v6 is a cross-sectional side elevational view taken substantiallyin the plane indicated by line 66 of Figure 3.

Figure 7 is a cross-sectional end elevational view taken substantiallyin the plane indicated by line 77 of Figure 3.

In broad terms, the lug box of the present invention generally comprisesa bottom and side walls and an open top, as is typical with boxesdesigned for this general purpose. While as above mentioned, the box isconstructed as a molded product, it is not formed or molded as anintegral unit as might be expected. While a single piece constructionwould possess certain advantages, such as economyand simplicity ofproduction, the finished product would not provide the structuralcharacteristics required, withoutextremely complicated features such asexcessive variations in wall thickness or the like.

Preferably, the box of the presentinvention is constructed from a baseof sisal mat which may be preformed to the general configuration, andsubsequently sealed with a phenolic'or 'polyester resin or othersuitable plastic. 7 This type of construction is well known in the art,and as the specific material constitutes no independent part of thepresent invention, no further explanation is deemed necessary.

In order to maintain a desired minimum uniform wall thickness, our lugbox is constructed of'four interlocking vpieces, namely, a pair of endwall members 12' and 13, anda' pair of combination side and partialbottom wall members 14 and 16. 'As themembers 12 and 13are identical, asare the members 14 and 16, it will be apprec'iated that only twoseparate dies are required to produce the fourpieces which make up thecompleted box.

Referring first to one of theend wall,members,"the same will be seen toinclude a generally flat central .wall portion 17 recessed inwardly fromthe outermost faceof the member which includes a pair of vertical sideportions 18 on opposite sides of recessed portion 17 and a horizontalheader portion 19 interconnecting side portions 18. 1 At the juncture ofwal1'17 with header 19 a horizontally extending shoulder 21 is providedwhich serves as a manual hand grip in picking up the box at the endwalls. Wall portion 17 is provided adjacent its bottom with an inwardlydirected flange 22, and header 19 is curved inwardly as best illustratedin Figure 6 to provide an upper flange 23 substantially coterminous withthe lower flange 22. Side portions 18 are likewise provided with flanges24 which will be seen are directed outwardly at greater than a rightangle to the general plane of portions 18. Lower flange 22 \merges withflange portions which extend inwardly from the bottom of flanges 24. Inthis manner, each of end wall members 12 and 13 are of generallyrectangular and cup-like configuration, with the flanges 22, 23 and 24,as well as the recessed face 17 providing an extremely rigidconstruction. It will be further noted that upper flange 23 has a pairof raised projections 26 having a generally flat top 27 extending alongthe length of the flange with inclined walls 28 extending from said topto the flange surface. Lower flange 22 is provided with a pair ofcomplementary shaped recesses 29 which are positioned in verticalalignment with the projections 26. The purpose of these projections andrecesses will be hereinafter discussed in detail.

As to the members 14 and 16, whose connection to the members 12 and 13will be later described, each of such members is of generally rightangular configuration to provide one side wall 36 and substantiallyone-half of a bottom wall 37. Wall 37 includes a longitudinal ribbedportion 38 extending upwardly from the general plane of the wall so asto define a lower grooved portion 39 of complementary cross-sectionalform to projections 26. The distal edge of wall 37 is transverselyslotted as indicated at 41 with edge portions 42 and 43 each occupyingapproximately one-half the length of the wall and being in verticaloffset parallel relationship. It should be clear that with thisarrangement, when the members 14 and 16 are brought into interfittingrelationship, the edge portions 42 of the respective members willoverlie the edge portion 43 of the other member, and a good interlockingconstruction will result.

A plurality of outwardly deformed ribs 46 of generally rectangular formextend from adjacent the upper edge of side wall 36 to a position on thebottom wall 37 beyond the juncture of walls 36 and 37. These ribs, dueto their particular length and width, provide sufficient rigidity to themember to prevent deformation in normal handling, yet permit deflectionof the member upon the impositions of sudden impact loads or the like soas to avoid cracking or breakage.

Extending angularly from the edges of wall 36 and at substantially thesame angle that flange 24 makes with side portion 18 of the end wallmember, are flanges 48 which join with bottom wall flanges 49 whichextend beyond the edges of the wall and are deformed upwardly from thegeneral plane thereof an amount approximately equal to the thickness ofthe material. Flanges 49 terminate at 51, spaced inwardly from the edgeof portions 42 and 43. V

With the foregoing description in mind, the manner in Which members 12,13, 14 and 16 are secured together should be quite clear. By way ofexample, members 14 and 16 are brought together with the respective edgeportions 42 and 43 in-overlapping and interfitting relation-. ship ashereinabove described. Rivets 52 or other fastening means are passedthrough such portions whereby the walls 37 define a complete bottom walland each of the walls 36 provides a separate side wall.

End wall members 12 and 13 are then secured to the bottom and side wallconstruction in the following. manner. First, it will be noted thatflanges 49 of the bottom wall overlie the lower flanges 22 of the endwalls and may be secured thereto by rivets 53 or the like. Then, thevertical flanges 48 are positioned immediately adjacent the innersurface of end wall flanges 24 and may be similarly riveted thereto asindicated at 54. Not'only will this secure the end walls in properpositions, but the overlapping relationship of flanges 48 and 24 Willprovide a reinforced column at each corner of the box. Also, as suchcorners are tapered rather than at right angles, additional strengthwill be added, and more uniform stress will be imparted such as when thebox is dropped on one corner. Such a bevelled construction furtherserves to guide the box contents out through the open top of the boxwhen the box is being dumped.

Drainage of water or other liquid may be simply accomplished byproviding drain apertures 56 in bottom walls 37 adjacent edge portions42 and 43, and similar apertures 57 in the bottom wall portions of ribs46, all of such apertures being located at the lowermost portions of thebottom wall.

As previously mentioned, an important feature of our lug box resides inits ability to be vertically stacked while resisting displacement in alldirections. This is primarily effected by virture of projections 26 onone box engaging the complementary recesses 29 on another box stackedthereon. Such engagement will effectively prevent any lateral ortransverse displacement of the several boxes, but as the projectionshave the tapered or inclined Walls 28, a person handling the boxes mayreadily effect a deliberate transverse displacement by a minor tiltingor lifting action. Means are likewise pro vided to prevent longitudinaldisplacement of the stacked boxes, and such means are best disclosed inFigures 5 and 7 of the drawings. As there shown, a downwardly extendingprojection 61 is provided adjacent each end of the bottom wall groove 39which forms a continuation of recess 29, such projection having across-sectional form matching that of the groove and a lower surface 62substantially coterminous with the lower surface of the bottom Wall. InFigure 5, the projection will be seen to have a leading edge or shoulder63 and an inclined portion 64 connecting the shoulder with surface 62.In this manner, when the boxes are stacked, the upper flange 23 of eachbox may engage the shoulder 63 0f the adjacent box positionedthereabove, and prevent longitudinal movement therebetween. However, topermit such movement, it is only necessary to raise one box suflicientlyto permit flange 23 to be disengaged from shoulder 63 and ride along theinclined portion.

What is claimed is:

1. A lug box of the character described having a pair of end wallelements and a pair of members each including a side-wall and anintegrally formed approximately one-half width of a bottom wall, thelongitudinal edge portion of each of said bottom half walls having atransverse notch medially of the ends thereof with the portions onopposite sides of said notch being in parallel planar offsetrelationship, means securing said edge portions of the respectivemembers together in interlocking relation, said end elements havinginwardly directed lowerand side flanges, the transverse edges of saidbottom wall portions being deformed to provide parallel offsets with theamount of offset being substantially the thickness of said lowerflanges, and the side wall edges being deformed to overlap with saidside flanges, and means securing said flanges to the edges of saidbottom and side Walls respectively.

2. A box as set forth in claim 1 further characterized by said sideflanges forming an obtuse angle with the general plane of said end wallelements, and said side Wall edges being deformed at a comparable anglefrom the plane. of said side walls. i

3. A molded lug box having a bottom and side walls and a pair of endwallsattached thereto, said side Walls being integrally formed with saidbottom, said end walls having integral inwardly directed flangesadjacent the upper and lower edges thereof extending generally normal tothe plane thereof and side fianges defining an obtuse angle with thegeneral plane of said wall and continuous with said upper and lowerflanges, said wall being inwardly recessed in a central portion thereof,said bottom-wall having an offset lateral flange at each end thereofdisposed in parallel relation to the general plane of said bottom walland overlying the lower flanges of said end walls, and said side wallshaving side flanges defining an obtuse angle with the general planethereof integrally formed with said bottom wall flange and positioned inoverlapping parallel relation to said end wall side flanges.

4. A box as set forth in claim 3 in which said bottom wall is formed oftwo longitudinally extending members, each of said members havingsubstantially one-half of the length of its edge portion disposed inparallel offset relation to the other one-half of the length thereofdefining a slot therebetween whereby when said members are broughttogether each of said members will have 6 an edge portion overlying anedge portion of the other member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,389,601 De Witt Nov. 27, 1945 2,409,748 Folst Oct. 22, 1946 2,483,269Fender Sept. 27, 1949 2,501,980 Wolfe Mar. 28, 1950 2,549,013 Robles eta1 Apr. 17, 1951 2,596,043 Piker May 6, 1952 2,764,308 Hoeh Sept. 25,1956

